Insights, opinions and a point of view from a call center, contact center and customer experience consulting veteran related to call centers, contact centers, customer service and customer satisfaction based on 35+ years of industry knowledge and experience.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

A new report published by Dimension Data suggests that contact center operators must deliver Digital Engagement or Die- Nice to know we have a choice.Dimension Data research predicts significant changes to the #contactcenter landscape –87% increase in non-voice traffic and 42% decline in voice traffic in #callcenters in just 2 years.How will this shift impact your centers and your Customer Experience? Many call and contact center operators have been sitting on their hands over the past few years

In 5 years the gap between companies that think their Customer Service is superior and the percentage of customers who agree has grown. What does this say about our ability to listen to and understand our customers? #custserv #cx #customerservice #cctr #callcenter

As we’re preparing for our annual Focus Group, it got us thinking about customer service.The focus of our event is to continue providing and improving – not only our software solutions – but the overall service delivered to each of our customers.What better topic to discuss than one about delivering exceptional service to your clients then, right? As a stadium manager, how does your service measure up?Are you proactively (and regularly) handling guest requests, complaints, and exceeding their expectations throughout the process? Are you still waiting for the complaint calls

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Every business or organization will have issues with customer service from time to time. As always the question is, how and what should you say during the interaction?In my Customer Service Course, I offer numerous suggestions as to how to manage specific situations. In this issue of The Training Shelf, we will discuss three of these issues and some suggested responses, although you should develop your unique custom responses: Customer Refuses to Listen to Reason, Customer Insists on Being Right

Over 5,000 BPO workers are at risk to losing their jobs as call center giant West Contact Services Inc. (WCSI) sells its shares to fellow BPO company Alorica. Perceived to be one of the biggest mergers in the BPO industry in the country, the employees of West Contact Services are now uncertain on whether they get to retain their jobs after the acquisition pushes through. Photo by Rappler “The employees of West Contact Services Inc. are uncertain of how the acquisition will impact their employm

The latest trends in #cx can look appealing and tempt many. But at the end of the day the pundit promoting some new trend or technology are like the blind men feeling one part of the elephant and trying to name what they are touching. We see or perceive one element to the detriment of the others. We need to have a 360 degree view of the customer and their expectations.

Becoming customer-obsessed is one of the top five trends that will impact the contact centre industry this year, according to one of the experts at the Interactive Intelligence panel discussion. To be truly competitive today, companies have to become “customer obsessed”, contact centre experts say. Enhancing customer experience is one of the top five trends …

IAOP Releases The 2015 Global Outsourcing 100 and World’s Best Outsourcing Advisors. IAOP® today announced its annual Global Outsourcing 100® and World’s Best Outsourcing Advisors lists. The lists were released at the opening day of IAOP’s 2015 Outsourcing World Summit, at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge, in Phoenix, Arizona. – PR12425792

This week, the Associated Press reported that Walmart will spend $1 billion on raises and training for its lowest-paid employees. Workers will now earn, at the very minimum, $9-an-hour, and then get $10-an-hour if they stick around for six-months.The decision comes after a wave of protests about the wages Walmart and other retail giants pay their employees and the benefits – or, perhaps more accurately, the lack thereof – they offer. So the move will unquestionably give them some good PR, at the

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

To enable Apple Pay in the air, more than 3,500 crew members will be equipped with iPad minis and NFC-enabled cases, loaded with a custom-designed iOS app—The Inflight Service Assistant. This initiative is the latest step in JetBlue’s use of mobile technology to offer better customer experience and support a paperless cockpit.

“With the gift of listening comes the gift of healing.” -Catherine de Hueck Doherty We’ve all heard the canned notifications when we call companies for customer service: “this call may be recorded for security or quality purposes.” Most customer…

Behind the scenes of a 911 emergency call center – Five computer screens provide a backdrop as Auburn communications dispatchers take calls from the public and police. Responding to an officer on a traffic stop the dispatcher types in the driver’s…

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Immersive or Flexible Learning. Training and education is a key to being successful in any role or endeavor. Interacting with customers is one of the most critical tasks for any organization. This pivotal role impacts and in part determines if a prospect becomes a customer or if a customer will remains one. Yet in spite of the importance of this role with the company, this is generally viewed as an entry level position. A surprising number of organizations employ very limited screening and appear to be not terribly discriminating in the selection of customer service agents. Once hired the new agents are trained to interact with customer and prospects. All too often this training is comprised of sitting in a classroom; listening and watching a trainer show what needs to be done. This is often called the ‘Sage on the Stage’ approach. If not completed in a classroom the training may only include side by side observation of an experienced agent.

Bottom Line: Flexible or immersive learning replaces the ‘Sage on the Stage’, with the ‘Guide on the Side’. Course training or more accurately education is immersive. The approach combines classroom study with individual study (eLearning), group study, side by side learning, with quizzes, tests and exams. The approach allows the student to test their knowledge, recall and gauge their own progress. The individual learning is self-paced allowing the student to move forward at their own pace, not that set by the ‘Trainer’.In a contact center environment this means faster learning, more comprehensive learning and better, more skilled and more effective agents. Of course some organisations will cling to the Sage on the Stage, but others will embrace lower costs, higher resolution, higher VOC, NPS and CSAT.

Let us know your take on this trend. How would you start on this journey? What were the stumbling blocks you encountered? How were they overcome?

About Me

More than 33 years of call and contact center experience. Worked in every position possible in the call/contact industry space. Recipient of more than 27 awards for call/contact center excellence. More than 14,000 agent desktops around the globe employ TRG designed operational models. CEO of The Taylor Reach Group, Inc. a call and contact center consultancy, past President & CEO of Watts Communications a large contact center outsource agency. Author, speaker and expert on all things call or contact center.
For more information visit http://www.thetaylorreachgroup.com